Refrigerator car floor rack



June 21, 1938.. v. E. slssoN REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR RACK Filed Dec. 1, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 21, 1938. v. E. sls soN ,2

REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR RACK Filed Dec. 1, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fi L I v r Y c I I /M m f 0 6 of temperature, thus necessitating the use of a Patented June 21, 1938 UNITED STATES 2,121,269 t r REFRIGERATOR CAR FLOOR RACK Vinton E. Sisson, Winnetka, Ill., assignor, by

mesne" assignments,

to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, a corpof ration of Delaware Application December a, 1930. Serial No. 113,619 Claims. (ci. 1o5--s':5)

The invention relates to insulated refrigerator cars used to transport perishable commodities, such as vegetables, fruits, berries,-meats, eggs,

frozen fish, etc., and to maintain such commodi';

ties while in transit within a predetermined range cooling means in the summer and a heating means in the winter. It has been found that perishable commodities which have not been allowed to get too cold (freeze) or too hot (bake) have a high market value because they have a longer storage life.

The invention relates specifically to racks for such refrigerator cars which comprise a foraminous or perforated floor, arranged to support thelading in the car in spaced relation to the insulated floor of the car so that air, after it has been cooled by a refrigerant, or heated by a heater, may pass under the lading and through the foraminous floor and up through or between the lading.

Spaced apart wooden slats supported by wood en stringers have been used for this purpose, but

, thereupon.

such construction is objectionable because it becomes insanitaryQretains odors, becomes water sogged and heavy, and isexpensive to maintain. An object of the invention is to provide a floor rack comprising a foraminous floor supported by stringers which is very light in weight for its strength; has a large total area of apertures in the foraminous floor for the passage of circulating air; offers the minimum resistance to the air moving in a horizontal direction under the foraminous floor; is economical to make and install or remove from the car; is cheap to maintain; is sanitary and will provide a substantially smooth surface for walking upon and rolling trucks In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a typical floor rack having a nous floor supported stringer.

, Figs. .2, 3 and 4 show the floor stringer by itself.

Fig. 5 shows a modified construction, wherein Fig. 3, is a section on line 3,3 of Fig. 2.

by my improved floor Fig. 6 shows a fragmentary longitudinal secfloor foramiadjacent the ceiling and floor of the car with a solid wall F therebetween.

A refrigerant is supported by the grates J in the refrigerant chamber B in spaced relation to the floor of the car and the basket (or netting) K spaces the refrigerant from the end wall L and I bulkhead A to provide the fiues M. The apertured floor rack N supports the lading 0 so as to provide the space? which communicates with the fines M. A refrigerant, such as ice, induces a convection air current from the fiues M, through the space P and the apertures in the floor rack N, and as the air is warmed by the lading 0 it rises and. passes through the bulkhead upper opening D and thence through thefiues M, and

being cooled by the refrigerant, repeats the convection cycle.

The floor rack comprises a foraminous floor supported by a plurality of stringers toprovide an air space below the foraminous floor. Any foraminous floor, such as spaced apart slats, expanded metal or wire netting may be used with my improved stringen' The stringer is formed of a metallic plate'having a web 2 provided-with an upper flange 3 for attachment to and support of the foraminous floor and a lower flange 4 for engagement with the floor of the car.

The plate is formed with corrugations 6-which spring from one flange (3) and merge into the web and alsoprovided with other corrugations 1 preferably alternately disposed to the first mentioned corrugations 6 which spring from the other flange (4) and merge into the plate in overlapping. relation with the first mentioned corrugations.

The corrugations preferably spring from one flange and merge into the plate adjacent the other flange, but in the modification shown in Fig. 5 the corrugations 8 simply merge into the web in overlapped relation with each other.

Such a construction forms a very strong and light weight stringer to support the foraminous This stringer may be formed by one operation of a reciprocating press. The stringers are preferably provided with apertures ID to permit move-. ment of air below the foraminous floor.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, a floor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a space between the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said flue, comprising spaced apart stringers supporting a foraminous floor and means to induce an air current from said flue through said space and said foraminous floor, each of said stringers comprising a metallic plate provided with an upper flange for attachment to the foraminous floor and a lower flange for engagement with the floor of the car, said plate formed with corrugations which spring from one flange and merge into the plate adjacent the other flange, said plate also formed with other corrugations which spring from said other flange and merge into the plate adjacent the flrst mentioned flange, said first and last mentioned corrugations being substantially uniformly distributed overthe length of the stringer.

2. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, a floor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a space between the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said flue, comprising spaced apart stringers supporting a foraminous floor and means to induce an air current from said flue through said space and said foraminous floor, each of said stringers comprising a metallic plate provided with an upper flange for attachment to the foraminous floor and a lower flange for engagement with the floor of the car, said plate formed with corrugations which spring from one flange and merge into the plate, said plate also formed with other corrugations which spring from said other flange and merge into the plate in overlapping (relation with the first mentioned corrugations said first and last mentioned corrugations being substantially uniformly distributed over the length of the stringer.

3. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto,- a floor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a space between the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said flue, comprising spaced apart stringers supporting a foraminous floor and means to induce an air current from said flue through said space and said foraminous floor, each of said stringers comprising a metallic plate provided with an upper flange for attachment to the foraminous floor and a lower flange for engagement with the floor of -the car, said plate formed with corrugations which spring from one flange and merge into the plate, said plate also formed with other corrugations alternating with the flrst mentioned corrugations which spring from said other flange and merge into the plate in overlapping'relation with the flrst mentioned corrugations.

4. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adJacent thereto, a floor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a space between the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said flue, comprising spaced apart stringers supporting a foraminous floor and means to induce an air current from said flue through said space and said foraminous floor, each of said stringers comprising a metallic plate provided with an upper flange for attachment to the foraminous floor and a lower flange for engagement with the floor of the car, said plate formed with corrugations which spring from one flange and merge into the plate, said plate also formed with other corrugations which spring from said other flange and merge into the plate in overlapping relation with the first mentioned corrugations said flrst and last mentioned corrugations being substantially uniformly distributed over the length of the stringer, said plate provided with apertures between the corrugations.

5. In a refrigerator car having a wall with a flue adjacent thereto, a floor rack for supporting the car lading so as to provide a space between the lading and the floor of the car communicating with said flue, comprising spaced apart stringers supporting a foraminous floor and means to induce an air current from said flue through said space and said foraminous floor, each of said stringers comprising a metallic plate provided with an upper flange for attachment to the foraminous floor and a lower flange for engagement with the floor of the car, said plate formed with corrugations which spring from one flange and length of the stringer, said plate provided with apertures between the corrugations and other apertures in the corrugations.

VINTON E. SISSON. 

